So the other day my dad's supervisor was using his rototiller to clean a small hillside when the motor locked up (someone forgot to check the oil) Well he replaced the motor with a newer one and then the transmission went out of it. Now its an older model. Its a 197? Roper walk behind with a 17 inch path. So I searched craigslist for a beat up one and the first one I see has a bad motor but good transmission on it so I can easily do a swap on it. Got it for 50$ and it turns out its an older Ariens rocket tiller serial number 1m. Its rusty but its complete and a very simple forward design. The old Briggs on the Ariens has compression but no spark but may keep it for something later down the road. SO what I plan on doing is tearing down the big pieces sanding priming and painting then reassembling it. I wanted to do a full restore on it but dad didn't want me to since I have the MTD 990 to start, the diesel to finish working on and everything else so it was a smart thing to do. As of right now its a faded yellow but in places you can see the Ariens orange so that's what im gonna paint it back to.

The Ariens Rocket tillers are a well built unit. My Dad used a Rocket 5 for about 15 years and then I bought it. I used it for weeding between the rows for 10 or so years and then sold it to a guy I work with. He has been using it for 3 years now and it is still original in every way; engine' tines etc. Great machines. Good luck on your rebuild....Dave